Youth Ambassadors (YAMS) Ecuador 2013, Day 5

Youth Ambassadors (YAMS) Ecuador 2013, Day 5

Day 5 – Bomin Choi
First thing that comes to mind about this day, LAST DAY OF WORK!! After hard shoveling, digging and wheelbarrowing, for three straight days, I couldn’t help but naturally feel a little relieved once Thursday came.
We continued spreading out the rocks from Wednesday. At first it seemed impossible, but foot by foot the ground was steadily being covered. After we finished flattening out all the pile of rocks, I took a step back and had to blink twice to realize what I saw. In less than 24 hours, the whole entire ground was covered with beautiful rocks. HOLEY MOLEY! It was an amazing sight. I was so happy, not exactly because of the outcome, but because of how hard we all worked together. Everybody contributed to their fullest extent. Everybody worked with integrity. Everyone listened to each other and followed directions without complaining. After we were done, Bishop Cevallos told us that we completed work that would have taken three weeks. We did the work in four days. 4 DAYS! Crazy. It was a great last day of work that ended with a great feeling of accomplishment.
After we departed the work site with hugs and kisses, we took the ‘ole bus to the Equator. There was this whole tourist attraction site built around the Equator, which I thought was pretty cool. After we took a billion pictures on the Equator line, we went into this tower. At the top floor we could see the entire landscape. The mountains with the clouds, the houses . . .everything. It was pretty awesome. On the way back down from the tower, we learned about all the different “communities” that made up Ecuador. One thing I’ll always remember is when I asked the tour guide if there were any cannibalistic tribes. The lady got so offended when I asked her that, her response made me feel like the most ignorant American. It was pretty funny nonetheless.
The day was probably the most memorable because we all got to know each other better. We all shared our last day’s work of shoveling and sweat and all took pictures with one another. I hope I’ll never forget this day because it was filled with so much laughter despite whatever we were doing – working or visiting the Equator; and that’s what makes a memory that much more memorable.